There is a continued and heightened awareness of the need for an environmentally safe method of disposal or reuse of waste tires. Under ideal conditions, scrap tire disposal is costly and problematic, and under poor conditions scrap tire piles can lead to highly toxic, uncontrollable fires or water retention resulting in severe insect infestations. Disposal of scrap tires has become highly regulated and controlled in nearly every aspect following the initial life of the tire on an automobile or truck.
Numerous methods have been developed for the reprocessing of scrap tires, including the creation of tire-derived fuels (TDF), the burning of tires in a furnace, generating heat for the production of electricity, producing crumb rubber that is used in the manufacture of rubber-based mats and asphalt or used loose as a sub-base, or cut and shaped from the natural state to form bushings and seals. However, there remains a need to find other uses of waste tires.